Living With What Happened
by Skorpa14
Summary: Chell is free from Aperture. For good. She is now living with the nightmares of of the facility everyday by just survivng out in the real world. Chell expects to find people, actual living people in the world she re-enters but what she finds, might make her wish she never left Aperture. Post-Portal 2
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: Hello again! I would just like to say thank you for reading this if you read my other story or if you are new, welcome! I would also like to say that I was inspired to write this story from another user, MySilentLullaby and their Portal story, To Die By Your Side. I advise you to check it out! It is on my favorite storys on my profile. I hope you enjoy this story!_

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Portal, Portal 2, or any of its related items. This is purely a work of fiction.**

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The door to the small aluminum shack slammed shut as the white (very dirty now) companion cube was dropped in front of Chell.

Chell stared at the cube with shock at first, wondering how, of all things, this stupid cube was given back to her. She distinctly remembered destroying it in her first go through of tests with the twisted, evil robot AI known as GLaDOS. However, she then remembered that this was Aperture.

Aperture had probably MILLIONS of companion cubes at their disposal along with turrets, personality cores, and just the normal looking cubes (Ones without the hearts).

The cube was just sitting there. Not that it should be doing anything else for that matter but it made Chell feel like it was out of place in the sea of amber colored wheat surrounding the small, worn out aluminum shack. She grabbed for her portal gun out of instinct to launch the cube out of her site but then remembered she didn't have it anymore due to her resent encounter with Wheatley and GLaDOS.

Chell was still in shock over what had just happened before she passed out. She had been to the moon and back in a matter of seconds, while her former potato companion was hooked back up to the system she worked so hard to destroy. She really was genuinely surprised when GLaDOS just told her to leave. Chell couldn't even work up the courage to speak for once in her entire time at Aperture to thank the sadistic robot for letting her go.

Now she was standing in the blazing sun, in the middle of some wheat field with a randomly placed aluminum shack.

Oh yeah and the cube. Wouldn't think of forgetting that.

Chell looked around everywhere to see if she could just find something, anything that shows a sign of civilization. However, there was nothing but the golden, amber colored wheat in the Earth beneath her.

_"Haha, wheat. The irony"_

Chell didn't dare speak this out loud in fear of the her robot overseer hearing her.

She then had a realization

She wasn't in Aperture anymore. She wasn't being controlled anymore. She wasn't being told what to do and where to go _anymore._

She was herself

She could control her own destiny for the first time in what felt like forever. She didn't remember the time when she could think or do something, _anything _on her own rules. Her own agenda. Her own destiny.

Chell broke down and cried.

Not like the times when she was cold and lonely in Aperture, but for once, tears of joy, happiness, freedom. Emotions that Chell thought she would never experience again.

She stood there crying a little longer but then reality began to set in as beads of sweat ran down her face and her stomach began to growl with hunger. Her new found freedom would not be squandered by her coming all this way just to die of heat exhaustion and hunger.

"Water" Chell spoke her first word out loud in what was most likely years and immediately regretted it. Her throat began searing in pain as it felt like knives stabbing the inside of her throat. Her dry throat only made her verbal request more apparent as she now needed water more than she ever.

After clutching her throat from the pain, Chell began walking through the seemingly endless wheat field. She took about five steps before realizing the companion cube was still there. She considered taking it with her. It had been her only friend in the hell hole. Well, sort of a friend. It was the only thing that hadn't tried to kill her.

_"What does that thing matter anymore? Its a fucking cube. All it will bring back is nightmares." _Chell thought this to herself as she quickly turned back around towards the endless wheat field._  
_

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Chell had been walking for what felt to her as a few hours. The sun was now starting to set and the temperature was quickly declining. For all of that walking, all she found was wheat. Nothing else. The only thing she is wearing is her ugly, worn down orange jumpsuit, white tank-top and her long fall boots. Her greasy, jet black hair was still tied in a ponytail. She was afraid of what it might look like if she ever undid it. She didn't know why she cared though. It wasn't like she was trying to look good in front of anyone. It was getting very cold outside and knowing from past experiences, her jumpsuit wasn't very warm.

Chell wasn't feeling very optimistic at this point. The sun had now completely set and it was dark outside. The only light now was the full moon showering the wheat field with white light. Chell held her arms together in order to preserve some warmth, but it wasn't helping.

"_I need to find some kind of shelter to stay in. I WILL NOT die out here."_

Chell continued to walk for a few more minutes going over a small wheat covered hill. At this point, her feet were completely sore and from all the walking done today. She was tired, thirsty, hungry, cold, and even a little scared. Nothing she hadn't faced before, especially in recent past, but now it was more apparent than ever.

She reached the top of the small hill and began to look over the horizon to see if she could spot anything. Her eyes darted everywhere hoping to spot anything but stupid wheat and they were quickly able to spot a dirt road.

Chell practically sprinted towards the road as she was excited she finally found _something. _Where would the road go? Which way should she go? She didn't care about the answers to those questions. All that was on her mind was the road. Running down the hill was sort of a challenge for Chell as she almost tripped several times due to the clunkiness of her long-fall boots. Running on solid ground was just a strange new experience to her in general.

She reached the road to grinding halt and looked both ways. Both ways looked identical, wheat covered hills and plains on both sides. No signs of anything else in sight. Chell shrugged her shoulders and just went one way down the road. She didn't care. She knew roads always lead to somewhere.

Hopefully that somewhere was a town.

Full of people.

Actual living, breathing people.

Chell started sprinting down the road.

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_Please tell me what you think by reviewing! It really means a lot to me! By the way, I will only do the disclaimer in this chapter in case you were wondering_


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Note: Alright im going to have to put this out there. As stated in the first chapter, I got some of the inspiration for this story from another user, MySilentLullaby and their story To Die By Your Side. I have since been in contact with this user and they informed me that my first chapter was distinctly similar to their story. I have apologized profusely to this user and would also like apologize again through the release of this chapter. If you have read To Die By Your Side then im sure you felt the same way about the first chapter. I would like to make this disclaimer though. My story will in no way shape or form be a copy or plagerised form of To Die By Your Side. I simply was inspired by how the user wrote the beggining of the story and the concept of Chell living her life after Aperture. I will also no longer be using concepts or similar plots to To Die By Your Side. The main plot of my story will be completely different from To Die By Your Side. (Don't want to give it away ;). Anyways please read this and tell me what you think! _

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The road is clearly desolate. No end in sight is seen. Only the wheat. Chell sprints on the path until her lungs basically give way, which doesn't take long. She stops abruptly to catch her breath, what little she has left. She puts her hands on her knees in utter exhaustion and wonders to herself why she has such bad luck.

No water, no food, nothing in sight as far as the eye can see. Plus all the shit she went through in Aperture. She can still hear the cold, lifeless voice of GLaDOS commanding her go through another test over and over and over again.

It gives Chell a cold shiver down her spine. "_Best not to think about it." _

She looks around her for probably the thousandth time that day. It may be dark, but the moon gives sufficient light to see all around her.

"_Big surprise, more wheat." _

Basically giving up on doing anything else for the rest of the night, she decides to lay down near the road and rest for a bit. A million thoughts go through her head as she lays her head down on the hard earth: "_Will I ever find anyone? What happened to this place? From what I remember it was not completely covered in wheat. I NEED water and something to eat or else all of my fighting will have been for nothing."_

This had not been a very successful day. Nothing was accomplished except a sore throat and dehydration. Many things trouble Chell at the moment however one thought crosses her mind before she drifts asleep from pure exhaustion:

"_Will I ever love someone?"_

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Chell awakes to the blazing sun and a grumbling stomach. Nothing had changed. Wheat was still everywhere, the road was still beside her, teasing her with its endlessness. The sky was cloudless, thus letting on yet another brutally hot day. Chell got up, holding her stomach from its lack of hunger in the process. She looked both ways at the road, then proceeded with a slow trudge towards the direction she was going the night before.

Chell walked for what seemed like hours without any stop. She hated complaining all the time but she couldn't help it. It was the truth. Her feet were in immense pain from all the walking (the huge ass boots didn't help), she most likely had dehydration, along with heat exhaustion coupled with the need for something edible besides wheat. Her life seemed pretty shitty right now.

Chell felt as if she would pass out. She hung her head down low and walked at a zombie like pace down the road for who knows how long. The heat was completely unbarable. She stopped sweating long ago and she could feel her body start to shut down on its own.

"_No. I can't pass out. This can't be the end. I have come so fa-"_

A large object cut Chell's thought short as she tripped and fell to the ground. She honestly did not have the strength to get back up. As she lay on her face, she mustered all of the strength left in her body to see what she had fallen over. It was a small backpack, more like a bag actually (one of the straps was missing). It was old and faded but as Chell picked it up, she could make out an Aperture Science logo. It had one of the old logos from the company back in the their early days of the 60's and 70's. A fully healthy (well mostly healthy) Chell would have thrown the old pack as far as she could because there is NO WAY finding this would be coincidental. However, she was pretty much about to die and she noticed the pack was slightly heavy.

"_Please let there be something I can eat in here." _Chell thought as she practically teared the pack's zipper open with as much force as she could muster. Her life depended on what was in this bag.

"_No fucking way."_

The pack contained a full water bottle, and a few cans of various foods. Chell grabbed the water without even thinking if it was ok to drink and drank half the bottle in one gulp. Immediately she started to feel better, her throat slightly less sore and her moral boosted greatly. The water was the best tasting water she ever had. Literally, it probably was. It was completely clear and had no sign of murkiness or contamination. All the water Chell drank in Aperture made her question her sanity daily as she went to new lows of getting water. Even drinking from a toilet.

As Chell was able to think clear thoughts now through slower more controlled sips of water (She had to preserve it, there was only one bottle), she began to wonder how she didn't see this bag coming. She was looking down at the road the whole time, she surly would have seen it. She looked around again for the first time in actually awhile. She was about to conclude on seeing nothing but wheat for who knows how many times when she actually saw something slightly in the distance.

Chell's eyes widened slightly as she quickly got up and put all the contents of the bag back inside. She picked up the bag and slung it around her shoulder as she began to walk towards a slightly large looking structure. Chell could practically contain her excitement and forced herself not go on a full dead sprint to the structure. She however, did not want to waste all the water she just recently drank by sweating it all away from running. As she approached the structure in a fast walk, she began to see the structure more clearly. It was a small house, with one story and a few windows and a chimney. It was made of wood, but clearly not wood from around here since there were zero trees around. Chell couldn't see it before, but there was also a small barn next to the house as well.

Chell approached the front door of the house with caution. She didn't know what to expect, but from the looks of the house it looked abandoned. Or at least not used in a very long time. She expected the worst as she approached the door. For some reason, she had the urge to knock. So she did. No response of course.

Chell emitted a small chuckle as she reached for the door handle. She never made it that far as a large, well _something,_ hit her in the head and knocked her unconscious.

Chell's unconscious body was then grabbed by a pair of hands and led into the house, accompanied by two other figures.

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_Hope you enjoyed it and feedback is d__efinitely __appreciated__:)_


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's Note: Sorry for the long update! This chapter took me longer write due to its length. Enjoy!_

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Rain pattered away at the roof of the small wooden house. It was torrentially down pouring for quiet some time with no sign of of end. Thunder boomed across the sky and slightly shook the foundation of the tiny house. The house had an old brownish tint to it, with a curved black tile roof and brick chimney. The small barn near the house was also made of wood, but appeared to be much older than its neighboring house. This house at one point in time may have been home to farmers who grew wheat, and lots of it for that matter. This may explain the endless amber colored hills surrounding the area, overgrown due to the lack of taking care of it.

The structure currently housed 3 people with a new "arrival" occupying one of the only beds. Due to the surprise visiter and the cramped feeling of having to stay indoors, everyone was a little on edge at the moment.

Chell opened her eyes slowly, her head still spinning from the object that hit her. She could hear voices in her proximity, arguing over something, but she couldn't quiet make out what they were saying. She slowly tried to sit up from the bed she was laying on, however her hands were tied up to the posts of the bed frame. Scared, she was now fully awake. Darting her eyes around the room looking for a way to get out of this situation. She would not be trapped again.

The two people arguing took notice to her struggle. One of the men, of African American decent along with a well-built body, moved to restrain her.

"Hold her down, Julius!" yelled the other man. This man was Caucasian, with brown hair and light brown eyes. He was standing behind Julius, seeming to look like a leader, commanding his partner. Both of the men were wearing orange jumpsuits, similar to Chell's but with more wear and tear.

Chell could feel two large hands holding her down with great force. This made her panic even more not only due to the fact that she is trapped, but that she is looking at two humans for the first time that she can remember. Julius grabbed her arms down and held the struggling Chell down, which did not seem to help and made her panic even more.

Chell couldn't think straight. She didn't know what to do. So she did the only thing she could do.

She screamed.

If you would call it that. The scream was hardly a scream at all, more like a pre-pubescent teenager's voice cracking for the first time. It made her throat explode in pain, in need of something to drink, the water from before her knock to the head losing all its effect. The pitiful scream however, did produce some kind of reaction as Julius, the big hulking man he was, actually let go of Chell temporarily, as he was actually in a little shock of what just happened.

"What the hell was that?" said a voice from the other room. Both men in the room turned their heads in the direction of the door on the other side of the room. The small room they were in, was the only bedroom of the house and was small and cramped. Squareish in shape, it could barely contain two full grown men let alone another one entering the room.

"She… she screamed. I think?" responded Julius.

"More like a screech" added the other man.

The new man that entered the room shook their comments off and turned to leader-looking man. "Whatever she did, why are you two trying to hold her down when she is clearly tied up to the bed?"

"Jason, mind your own damn business. I'm the fucking leader around here. For all we know, she could be with _him_." The leader seemed to really accentuate the word _him_ as if it meant something bad.

"Boone, open your fucking eyes! She's one of us!" Jason shouted this at the leader now named Boone while waving his hand in the direction where Chell who was still tied up to the bed. Jason had about the same build as Boone, but would have trouble overcoming him if it was needed. He had short, dirty blond hair, with bluish- green eyes. His face took the complexion as somewhat soft yet somehow a little hard around the contours of his face.

Chell looked at him with great interest.

"_This guy is defending me and he doesn't even know who I am. Not to mention he look's-" _

"Well mister fucking know it all, what makes you say that? Huh? First she tried to break into our house and now she is struggling to break free! One of _us-"_Boone said this mockingly while pointing a waving a finger in the air, signifying he meant everyone in the room. Except Chell. "-wouldn't do something like that!"

"Boone, she's just scared! You can see it in her eyes. Besides, she's wearing one of the jumpsuits! She came from Aperture just like all of us!" Jason started to move towards Boone, almost in a confrontational type of way. For all Chell knew, they would start beating the shit out each other any second. The two have appeared to have had this fight before, many times.

"So what?! Who's to say she isn't brainwashed by-"

"HEY!"

Julius's voice boomed through the small room and all attention went to him.

"If you two idiots would just stop fighting for one second, maybe we can actually give her a chance to say something." Julius now looked at a frightened Chell, who was shocked by his sudden outburst.

Chell contemplated what he said for a second. She knew she had to keep it brief, her voice ever working again depended on it. Also, the "scream" from before was still hurting her throat immensely. All eyes were now her. Now that she had everyone's full attention, she had this horrible sense of dread fill her. The particular situation was not in her favor: three strong looking men holding a very vulnerable women captive on a bed in a house in the middle of nowhere.

No, Chell's situation definitely looked quiet bleak.

Trying to shake this feeling off, she attempted to speak to the men, but now she was more scared than ever.

"uh…I-" she spoke very slowly and cautiously as her throat exploded in pain once more. Before she could even think to move on, she needed water or something to get rid of the dryness of her throat. All those months or years or however long it was she was trapped in Aperture of not speaking at all, really did a number on her voice.

"P…please…water." Is all she could mutter anymore. She attempted to move her arm towards her mouth to point to her throat. However, it was still tied down.

Jason acted first: "Boone, look! She can't even speak! Get her some water!"

"Don't fucking tell me what to do!" Boone got up in Jason's face as if he was about to punch him square in the face. However he didn't and commanded Julius instead: "Julius! Get the girl some water. Then we will have a "chat" with her." With that he left room, along with Julius who responded to his leader's command without saying anything.

"_Girl?! How old do you think I fucking am?!", _Chell thought this to herself, a little irritated from the rudeness but grateful they will help her desert of a throat.

Jason watched as his two companions left the room and decided to stay. Jason shaked his head in disgust once Boone and Julius left the room. He made his way over to where Chell's bed was and pulled up a chair to sit on.

"Don't worry about Boone, he just a hard-ass on purpose just because he thinks he's the leader." Jason gave Chell a little reassuring smile as he said this. "And hey don't worry you won't be tied up for much longer. We've all seen people like you before. We all came from the same place. So we all live together in this world, in a now defunct Aperture, attempting to live out the rest of our lives without worry. Except for-"Jason paused at this, as if contemplating whether or not he should tell her not. He was about to say something else when Julius came back in the room with a bottle of water similar to the one Chell drank before and a small knife. Jason got up from his chair and moved it out of the way as Julius came over and went to Chell's arm restraints.

"I'm going to untie you now. If you attempt to do anything other than drink this water, then I will hit you much harder on head than I did before." Julius locked eyes with Chell and gave her mean glare once he finished his threat. Chell shook her head quickly in acknowledging she understood perfectly. Julius took the knife and brought it up to her restraints and quickly cut both off. Julius then threw the water bottle at Chell.

"Drink up" He said coldly and turned to leave. "Watch her" he said to Jason on his way out.

Jason nodded his head in acknowledgement and turned back to Chell, who already was tearing into her bottle of water and drinking it excessively.

"Hey, easy there. You don't want to throw it all back up." Jason made a little chuckle to himself as he slowly reached over to pull the bottle away from her mouth.

"Th...Thanks" Chell barely said out loud as she gulped down more water. The water felt even better than the water she had from before. It helped her throat enormously, almost instantaneously healing her dry throat. She may be able to start speaking again sooner than sh thought.

"You're welcome. How rude of me! I didn't even ask you your name! I'm Jason by the way." Jason said this with a big smile at the end. Chell took notice to his cheery personality and wondered how he was able to be this way one second then about to fight someone the next second so quickly. She stared at him with a curious look before answering.

"Chell"

"Interesting name! I can see you're from Aperture…how long has it been since you got away?" Jason said this in a cautious tone, as if it might hurt her to answer such a thing.

Chell thought about this for a second. She knew it had been roughly 2 days now, but then she started to think about all the other men. They had all been test subjects at some point but how long ago was that? She knew a great deal of time had passed when she was in a relaxation chamber after she defeated GLaDOS for the first time. And if it was recent for them too, how come she never heard of these people before or saw them at some point? She decided to ask them later when her voice returned to its full health.

"2 days"

Jason was about to respond but was a little taken aback by her response. He gave her a quizzical look, and then a look of shock. Chell took notice to this and was confused by his strange reaction. Why was that bad?

"C…Chell"

"What?"

"We've been living on the surface for over 10 years now. The world isn't the way it was before. No one is left from Aperture, no one is left from anything actually…." Jason let his last statement linger off as if to allow her to take it all in.

Chell couldn't even remember the way the world was from before she was in Aperture. But she didn't remember one important thing.

There were people.

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_Hope you enjoyed it! Feedback is appreciated :) Also, chapters may start to come out every other day now (I want to make them longer like this one!). So expect the new one this weekend!_

**_Please view my profile for an update on when the next chapter comes out. I promise you it is not an end or an infinite hiatus, just a simple update. _**


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